The Colony
by Underoathowns
Summary: Takes place after the movie, the story of a boy living in the survivor's colony, with the development of the cure, comes the development of a new virus. Now they are vulnerable day and night. please read and review. Finally Finished!
1. Prologue

Prologue

The wall. The wall was where I spent all my time. Watching, waiting. The wall that surrounded this god-forsaken place. War, fighting, and death, what kind of world did we live in? Some said that we were at fault here, some said it could have been prevented. I doubted it. I shook my head, my eyes had grown red, I hadn't slept in three days. I stayed awake here, forever watching, forever waiting. I never left the wall, not after what they did to me. The wall was where I stayed, and I would never leave. It was my duty to watch the wall. They would point, they would laugh, and they would criticize, but I would never come down from here. It wasn't my fault. Paranoia slowly slipped over all, just some sooner than others. But it was what we were all destined for, spending all night looking out upon the vast wasteland. I usually fell into a restless sleep for an hour or two every night, but not tonight. Three nights ago, they had started. The sounds, the screams. They had always been audible, but they were closer now, closer than before. The clock struck 7:28 PM. It was June 3rd, my birthday. I had spent it up here. Up here on top of the wall. This colony was a machine. A place built only to kill every last one of those creatures. Infected with the KV virus, a woman who once thought she had cured cancer had unleashed it upon the world. I bet she feels really stupid right about now. If she's alive. My alarm beeped, 7:33, the time of sunset. I smiled, "Happy birthday." I said quietly to myself. Fifteen. " You're fifteen John."

Only I didn't feel fifteen. Fifteen year olds worry about girls, and dances, grades and schools. Not about being eaten by creatures of the night. Dark seekers some called them, but I didn't like to. Giving them a name made them seem so much more real. My mother, father, and three brothers were all lost to the KV virus, but they were still my mother, father and brothers. Even if they didn't recognize me, I recognized them. And I refused to think of them as nothing but a stupid creature of the night, a "dark seeker."

As time passed, the light was lost, and I was surrounded by darkness. I wasn't the only guard up here now. They couldn't come out during the day, why did I insist on coming up during the day? I shook my head. It's 'cause of them, I thought, those creatures. Except for my family, I thought to myself. Maybe it wasn't fair, maybe they were either all good, or all evil. It sure wasn't that way with humans though. Especially not when they're forced into a survivor's colony for three years, with nobody but each other to talk to. When you're life is limited to fifty-four people, you tend to get a little bit tired. The screams were quiet again tonight. So I allowed myself to relax a little bit. I sat back, and found myself in a comfortable position. Without realizing it, I slipped off into sleep.

If only I'd seen the glowing eyes in the bushes.


	2. Infiltration

Chapter 1

Infiltration

The better you sleep, the harder you wake up. That night, I fell into a very restful sleep. The first in a long time. Perhaps the lack of sleep had helped to contribute to my sleep, but I slept so soundly. No interruptions, no noises, I rested my body. That made it all the harder when I awoke early, at 6:03 AM. My eyes were bloodshot and fearful when I head the first scream. Sunlight was peeking out on the horizon, but it was still remotely dark. Maybe dark enough for them to get out, but that didn't scare me. Even if they did find us, they would never penetrate the wall. The defenses were too vast and complicated. None of them would ever even reach the wall. The infected would stop at the UV light, which the wall was continually casting out hundreds of feet out in the wasteland. They couldn't take out the lamps, they stood next to me, casting out light for hundreds of feet so none could get anywhere close. Still, they frightened me. I hadn't had a close encounter with one of them in over a year, not since I came here. Our defenses were strong, but I didn't trust in them. If the infected found us, it wouldn't just be the ones in the area. There would be thousands. Maybe millions. 10 of all the people on earth would be at our doorstep. I wasn't too confident in our defenses. All the infected in the world would be coming here, it must be a feast to them. Though we were relatively small in number, they hadn't eaten any live humans in over three years time now.

But the scream that awoke me, what was up with that? Why were they still screaming at this time. As the sun was rising? Surely they couldn't be here, they couldn't be outside at this time of day. But they had screamed. They screamed when angry, usually when they were about to feast on something. Maybe an animal.

Maybe a human.

There hadn't been an animal around here in years. The infected had cleared them out quickly. Those the infected didn't get, we had taken in, so the infected could no longer feed here, and would have no reason to stay nearby. But now, the infected were nearby, close enough to wake me with their screaming. Something was wrong, something was going on, and I had to find out what. I hadn't been outside of the colony since I came, I had been standing on the wall almost every day, staring out at the world, but I had never left. If there was a human out there, they were surely still alive. The infected couldn't be outside at this time, it didn't make any sense. An infected would only scream at food, and there were no animals near here. A human could have heard word of the colony and been on their way here when an infected had tried to attack him on their way back to wherever it was they slept. If the human was there, he may be injured, or worse. Even if it was just an animal, I had to go. I had to get out of here for at least a little while. I couldn't stay here.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brett asked me. Brett was the second in charge in the colony. He guarded the gate day and night, and he hated my guts.

" I'm going out to search for a survivor that I heard in the night." I told him.

" Why did no one else hear this survivor?" He asked.

" I didn't hear the survivor exactly, I heard an infected." I explained hopelessly.

" You're taking one of our three cars, to search for an infected?" He said, a blank stare on his face.

"No," I sighed, "Look, I don't have to explain myself to you. Colony rules, if somebody wishes to leave the colony to search for a survivor, then they may."

" Don't forget the other part of the rule though, if you even suspect the presence of an infected in any of the buildings, you are required to search it and kill all you find."

" I'm aware." I said reluctantly.

" All right, Clear!" He yelled, and the man on top of the door hit a few buttons, the doors swung open.

The car drove fast, I liked it fast. It felt so good to feel the wind in my face, to be out on the horizon that I had stared at for so long. I was out, finally. I felt like I had just escaped jail, I was finally free, nothing could stand in my way. I hit the gas, and floored it. The road took a few twists and turns, I drove out to the next city, where I had decided to start my search. It felt good to be out, but it also felt scary. They hadn't let me leave unarmed, there was a pistol on my belt, two shotguns and an AK47 in the backseat, god forbid I should need them. The guns scared me, they made everything seem so, real. I grabbed a shotgun and left the parked car to start looking around. I felt my heart racing, everything was quiet now. There was no life, there was no moving around. This must have been what it was like to those who had survived and not been in a colony. All alone, for so long too. They were powerful. So powerful that it scared me. I wasn't a fighter, I was nothing but a lookout. I don't know why I left in the first place. I should have stayed in the colony, stayed on the wall. I seriously considered getting in the car and going right back. No, I told myself, if you stayed you would be staring at this town from far away. Doesn't it feel better to actually be here for a change?

There won't be any infected in the buildings, I told myself, there's no food, any that were here are dead now. But I was still nervous, I told myself I would only search the buildings where the windows were big, and the sunlight shone through everywhere. That way I would never encounter any, if they were there in the first place. I gripped my gun tightly, as I resolved to search the house closest to me. I kicked down the door, and stepped slowly inside. I was too scared to take another step past the threshold though, so instead I screamed, "Hello! Anybody Home!" But there was no answer. I repeated this process for the all the houses on the block, but there was no answer.

I turned at the next street, onto a street called Georgia. Here I stopped and gasped. In the middle of the street were two bodies. They were a few yards away, so I couldn't make out whether they were human or infected. Run, Run, RUN! My body was screaming, but something in me made me inch forward. At the end of the street was a dead end, and at that dead end, was a factory. It didn't look like any light had shone in that factory in many years. If they're here, that's where they're hiding. I told myself, and I kept inching forward. I noticed a hole in the factory's only window. A large hole, and glass on the ground underneath it. If they were there I would have to search it, I shook my head, that's not going to happen. I kept inching forward, a horrible smell reached my nostrils, the smell of burnt skin. Whether the bodies were human or infected, it was bad. If they were infected, it meant that they had been killed this morning by the sunlight, because their skin was still intact. Which meant that they were close, and had most likely found the colony. If they were human, then it meant that the humans had been killed by something, and would attract infected, which they had probably done already.

I reached the bodies and gasped. One of them, the one that smelled, was an infected, a dark seeker. It looked like my brother. My brother was dead, I sighed, and shook my head. I hadn't done this in a while, they all looked like my brother and my mother to me. I was alway reluctant to kill them, because I was always curious whether they could be my brother or mother, and we could examine them, help them. The other body, was a human. A boy, maybe fifteen. He was tall with straight, blonde hair, muscular with smooth features. He was cleanly shaved, which meant that wherever he had been he had had electricity, and his chest was slowly moving up and down.

He was breathing.


	3. Toby

Chapter 2

Toby

I stood there, staring. I didn't know what to do. I just watched him for a few minutes, my senses numb, my brain frantically searching for an answer. I should take him back, I should carry him to the car and drive him to the colony. He's bleeding though. They could follow the scent of his blood back to the colony. But they would never get in, none of them would ever get in, our defenses were too strong. I couldn't just leave him there, but I couldn't take him either. I bent down, and examined his wound. Teeth marks were imprinted on his arm, and blood was spilling out of them. There were gashes where their nails had cut into him. Yet he was still breathing, he had survived his encounter and was right next to where they were. Then a thought struck, what if he had encountered them a long way back on his way here, and he had collapsed here? Then why was there an infected body there as well? His face was untouched and peaceful, I tapped him on the arm lightly. He woke up

" Who are you?" He asked me in a gruff, pained voice.

" I'm here to help, tell me, what's your name?" It was a tone I hadn't heard in my voice in a long time, a caring tone. A sorrowful tone, not one of anger or hate.

" I'm Toby," he said "Chicago, all alone." He muttered, drifting away

"Stay with me Toby, stay with me." But he had already drifted into sleep.

Chicago, all alone, he was a survivor living in Chicago, so what was he doing here? He must have been on his way to the colony. I stooped down and slid my arms under his back and his neck, so I could support his head. I lifted him slightly, and he coughed up blood. I set him down gently, and sat down. I needed to take him back. He must be immune if he was still alive, if he had survived this long. I sighed, and got up, I slid my arms under him again. I started to lift again when it happened. A scream. Piercing the silence, an earsplitting scream that made my brains jump and my head split open with pain. I hadn't heard them this close in so long. I jumped sky high, as I turned to stare at the factory. There, in the broken window was an infected, mouth hanging open, barely visible in the darkness, but the light was shining on it slightly. It must have pained it to stand there, I saw smoke rising from its shoulders. It continued screaming, until I slid my arms out from under Toby. The scream had awoken Toby again.

"Stay here Toby." I told him, and I raised my shotgun.

I stared straight at the infected. It was a male, taller than me, stronger. It looked like my brother. I shook my head, they all did. I stared into his eyes, and he met my gaze. All I saw in his eyes was a relentless, deadly hunger, which he would stop at nothing to satisfy. I pointed my shotgun straight at him, and took a step forward. He snarled at me, his eyes screaming for me to come closer. He could barely hold in his excitement. I kept my gun pointed at his head the whole time. Another step forward, now I was just outside of the shadow of the factory. He smiled, pointed teeth flashed white in the darkness. The hot sun was beating down on me, sweat trickled down my neck. I took a step inside the shadow. The infected's smile grew wider, and he took a step into the shadow. The sizzling of his skin in the sun grew louder, and he broke into a sprint towards me. I was only a few feet away from him, I turned and bolted out of the shadow, the infected leaped straight into sunlight, and hit the ground thrashing and burning. Screams filled the air as the infected bashed his head against the ground, excruciating pain was filling up inside it's body, and it was begging for it to be over. I raised the shotgun, and quickly obliged. The infected lay on the ground next to the other infected, and Toby. I bent down, and picked up Toby, I began walking towards the car. Toby was awake now, I lay him in the back seat of the car, and handed him a pistol.

"If anything happens, if I'm not back by dark, use these guns, stay low." I whispered, and turned to the factory, where many screams were now emanating from. I drew in a sharp breath, and walked into the shadow of the factory. I picked up a shard of glass from where the window had been broken, and i slashed my arm and let the blood drip to the floor. I took a step outside the building, and stood with my shotgun raised. I walked outside of the shadow, and listened to the many screams growing louder and louder. Then, out of the window, forty or more infected came sprinting out at me. I panicked, closing my eyes I blindly fired the shotgun over and over again, constantly reloading and firing again. I heard screams of pain mix in with the screams of desperation and hunger. My shotgun ran out of ammo. Forgetting about my pistol, I turned back to make a run for the car. I should have stepped further out of the shadow. As I turned, one's hand reached out and grabbed my ankle, pulling me down flat on my face. The feeling of the pistol slamming into my waist reminded me that it was there, but it was too late now. They began dragging me, I felt teeth sink into my arm again and again. Claws ripped at my clothes and chest. I was surrounded by darkness as I was carried back into the factory. I could see nothing, all I knew was the sound of them screaming, and the white hot pain sinking into my chest and arms, and every other part of my body. My eyes slid shut, and my mind threatened to slip into blackness, but I knew if my mind slipped, I would never come back. I wanted to pass out from the pain, to let it all end right here, but I couldn't. I had to save Toby. With all the strength I could mutter, I desperately screamed.

"TOBY, FIRE!" I tried to free my hand for just a second, so I could get to my gun, but I couldn't get free. I needed something, anything. Then I got it, a bang, a loud bang. A gunshot from just outside. One of the infected screamed, and they all paused for a few seconds to turn. Those few seconds were all I needed. I jumped to my feet, pulling the pistol out, and began firing blindly. I sprinted for the light, never taking my finger off of the trigger, I pointed it in front of me and cleared an opening, and I took off sprinting through them. With them behind me I threw my arm behind my back and held my finger down, screams filled the air and I was lost in pain and agony. I reached the sunlight and one of them tripped me as I sprawled out of the shadow into the sunlight. I felt my leg break as it hit the ground at an awkward angle, and I fell flat on my face. They stood there, in the shadow, watching me. I screamed in pain, and tried desperately to get up. But to no avail, I was in too much pain. I managed to get up onto one leg hopping, and hopped to my car. I lost my balance and fell into the car. My leg slammed into the seat, and I screamed one last time. Then, I passed out from the pain.

_" Come on John! Let me see!" Brian yelled playfully chasing me._

_" No, finder's keepers!" I exclaimed, sealing it in my fist._

_" Come on!" He screamed, I sensed he was getting angry. I didn't want that, I loved him after all._

_"All right." I sighed, and I opened my hand. The pistol shone in the light of the sunset. I saw Brian's eyes light up with astonishment. 'wow,' he mouthed, but no words came out. _

_"Let's play with it!" He exclaimed, snatching it and running around the yard, pretending to shoot cowboys. Brian was 10 years old as of yesterday. I was two years older than him, and was embarrassed to play with him sometimes, not that I didn't have fun, I just felt that I was growing up a little bit._

_I had no idea how fast we would both soon grow up._

_I didn't have time to chase Brian around the backyard, because it had turned dark, and my mother had opened the door. "For God's sake get inside!" She shrieked, she sounded hysterical, it frightened me. For the past month or so, we had had to go inside as soon as it got dark. Mother never told us why, and some nights we had to sleep in the basement, and be extra quiet. On those days we would wake up and find the kitchen robbed of food, and broken glass all over the floor. Mother had seemed very stressed lately, but I didn't know why. My friends at school said their parents were the same way. Maybe it had something to do with the sickness on the news. I had no idea. I walked inside the house, but Brian kept running around with the pistol. "Brian, NOW!" Mom screamed. Brian didn't listen._

_Then I saw it, in the bushes behind where Brian was standing. Eyes, and a form. There was somebody in the bushes._

_"Brian! Come on!" I screamed. Brian sensed the urgency in my voice, and began to cry. I ran to him and seized him._

_"NO!" My mother screamed, but it was too late. The creature leaped out from behind the bushes, letting out an earsplitting scream. Brian was screaming, my eyes were filling with tears as we began sprinting across the lawn. This thing was fast, whatever it was, it soon caught up to Brian and tackled him. It bared fangs and prepared to sink it's teeth into his arm. My mother had disappeared into our house, I threw myself on top of the creature, pushing it off of Brian. Brian started screaming for me to kill it. I flailed my fists as fast and hard as I could. Time and time again I felt my fists make contact with it's body, but I was doing little damage. Soon I was on the ground, with this thing on top of me. Brian took the metal gun and began smashing it on the head. It rolled off of me, now it was angry. It threw Brian to the ground, and the pistol flew out of his hand. I sprinted to where it had fallen in the ground and began slamming it on top of the creature's head as hard as I could. Finally, I was hurting it. It began screaming at me. It dove at me, I tried to dodge it, but I failed. It took me to the ground. I grunted as I felt it's weight crush down upon me. It began punching me in the face, and I began crying as blood spilled out of my nose. I heard my mother screaming._

_"GET OFF OF MY SON!" And all of a sudden air filled my lungs as the weight was cast off of me. I turned to see my mother holding a crowbar, bashing it's head again and again. _

_"Come on Brian!" I screamed, and we ran inside. I locked him in the basement, and grabbed a metal baseball bat. I couldn't lose my mother, that thing was strong, I didn't know if she could kill it on her own. I ran back outside, to see it on top of my mother, trying and failing to bite her. I sprinted at them, I wound up, and swung with all my might at it's head. Solid contact, like when you hit a baseball right on. There was a scream from the creature as I heard it's neck crack. It fell to the ground and my mom passed out. At least I hoped she passed out, I didn't want to think about that now though, the creature was still alive. I picked up the sharp crowbar with my other hand, the creature was weakened now. It screamed at me, anger and hunger had made it insane. It charged at me, and I waved my weapons at it. The crowbar hit it in the face and I felt it cut into it. The bat smashed it on the top of the head, and it fell to the ground. I took the crowbar, and brought it down on it's neck as hard as I could, cutting deep into the back of it's neck. It's life left it's body, and I dragged my mother inside, and locked us all in the basement._

I didn't see the blood from the bite mark on her ankle.


	4. Creatures of the Day

Chapter 3

Creatures Of The Daylight

The beeping of the alarm woke me. My head felt as though it were too big for my skull. My wounds ached terribly as I tried to move from the seat of the car. I opened my eyes as much as they would allow, I could make out the beautiful sunset, and the shadow of the factory.

And the infected still waiting hungrily.

I groped in the darkness for a gun, my hand closed around my pistol, no good, I had used all the bullets running away. Toby was sleeping behind me, I sat up slowly, and reached into the back seat, grabbing another pistol. The keys were still in the car, I turned them. If I got back within the next five minutes, things would be okay. I had approximately ten minutes until sunset, but they always came out earlier. If they followed me, I would be forced to stay out until morning, and the car had been running all day, who knew how much longer it would last. I pushed on the gas and began charging toward the colony. The car sped up to ninety miles an hour, at this rate I should be back in no time. I saw the colony approaching, the ultraviolet light shining only a few feet in front of me. Then I was immersed inside of the light, there was no doubt about it, I was safe now. I was inside of the light for a minute or so before I had reached the gate. I knocked, they had to hurry, they would be waking up soon. A light shone in my face, and two beeps registered who I was. The doors slid inside of the wall, and a soldier greeted me.

"Hurry, get him inside, they're coming out." I yelled. They took him and I drove the car inside of the colony. The doors slid closed and the fortress was impenetrable once again. I followed them as they rushed Toby into the medical unit.

"What happened?" Brett asked me, handing me a medical mask.

"A nest, hundreds of them, hiding in the factory close by here." I gasped, they rushed to me, wanting to tend to my wounds, but I waved them away. "Help him." I breathed.

"He's been bitten, is he immune?" They asked me.

"I... I don't know." I confessed.

"Quick, check him!" The men were unrecognizable in their masks. They put a needle into his arm and withdrew blood, they put it on a cloth, and placed it on a machine. They opened his eyelids and shined light on them.

"Pupils non-responsive to light, pupils seem slightly dilated." That wasn't a good sign, I was beginning to worry.

"Here!" Another one yelled, pulling a piece of paper out of the machine they had put his blood into. "Infected!" He yelled.

A needle was wiped and they moved it towards his arm.

"No!" I cried, pulling back the needle. They closed in around me. "Check him again! How could he survive three years if he wasn't immune? Check him again!" I screamed.

A new needle moved towards his arm, and withdrew blood a second time. A light was held up to his arm.

"Skin has no reaction to UV light!" Another one yelled. "Not yet at least." He muttered to himself.

"He's infected." They screamed again. This time the needle went too quick for me to do anything, and it was in his arm before I could even cry out. A tear left Toby's eyes, as his heart began slowing. He began shaking, violently and out of control.

"Antidote not working, something is wrong!" They screamed. Toby was standing now, his eyes were open, but there were no pupils. Instead all that was there was a big black dot. He was poised for battle, and he let out a horrible roar. Not a roar of one of them, a different, more vicious roar. The men in white moved in on him, and he leaped. His skin had not transformed, but his teeth and nails had become sharper. He landed in front of Josh, my only friend in the colony, and stood there, staring. He reacted quickly and tried to punch him in the face. A sharp claw dug into his arm, and he screamed in pain. He shoved Josh to the ground as he leaped out of the window. We all ran outside to see what was going on. Brett's voice carried over the megaphone.

"Alert! Infected in the colony! Infected in the colony!" It began charging itself at the wall. Over and over again it smashed itself into the wall. But it wasn't getting anywhere. Bullets began hitting it in the back, and it began to scream. Everybody in the colony was closing in, bullets firing at it constantly. It shrank to the ground and everybody huddled around it. It was bleeding black blood on the ground. It had stopped moving, and the screaming was over. The creature, Toby, was dead.

"What was that thing?" Josh asked me, as we walked to the cathedral. Saturday night had ended with the creature dying, and then they had forced us to go to sleep.

"I don't know, but it wasn't an ordinary infected. It didn't react to the UV light, and his skin didn't change." I said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, something funny is definitely going on." Josh agreed.

"Maybe another virus has developed?" I suggested.

"Maybe, but how?"

"Remember, a few weeks ago, Ana came here with the "miracle cure?"

"You don't think..."

"They never told us what happened to the test victims. They're hiding many things from us. Maybe the bite marks were from the test victim."

"Maybe..." Josh agreed, but we had reached the cathedral. Brett was waiting for us at the entrance.

"Good job bringing an infected back. You got lucky nobody was hurt." Brett threatened.

"I did." Josh said, holding up his arm, "but I'm not half as mad as you." He said accusingly.

"Whatever, at least we know you're immune, Josh." I joked, but I really was grateful. I didn't know what I would do if I lost Josh.

"That thing wasn't an ordinary infected." Brett warned, "It didn't react to the UV, that means, if there are more, they could be outside during the day. We could all be at risk." But Brett's words were cut off as the church's bells rang, and we filed inside for the service.

_"Mom! Mom are you okay?" I screamed, running to her. She was lying in the middle of the market, she had just collapsed. It had been two days since the attack on our house, and mom had been getting worse and worse. I knew we shouldn't have come here at night. Their screams were everywhere._

_"Take Brian and get out of here!" She screamed at me. Her eyes looked different now, bigger somehow. Then she screamed, a horrible scream. Like one of them. "PLEASE! GO!!!" And suddenly I understood._

_"Brian! Brian come on we have to go, now!" I screamed at him._

_"Mommy!" He screamed, running towards her, I stopped him._

_"No Brian, say goodbye to mommy." I picked him up and he began to cry. I carried him to the car and he was continually screaming "Mommy!"_

_I turned the key and began driving. I had no idea how to do this, but I just needed to find a good place to hide. They knew where our basement was, and the population of Chicago was continually decreasing. It was dark outside, and they were everywhere. I didn't know how to do this, I was driving at 3 miles per hour, we could walk faster than this. All of a sudden something was pounding on the side of the car. It was an infected._

_Not just an infected, our mother._

_Brian began crying, and I tried to start the car, but it had stopped. I reached under the car and grabbed the pistol. "BRIAN GET OUT OF THE CAR!" I screamed, and he opened the door and we slid out right before it tipped onto it's side. Our mom jumped on top of it, a hungry look in her eyes, until she realized we weren't there. We were halfway down the street, running as fast as we could. I knew we couldn't outrun her, her screams would draw others to this street anyway. I hopped the fence into a backyard and followed Brian into it's underground storm shelter. We sealed it with the metal bar that latched across the door. We then moved every heavy object in the room against the door on top of the shed so it couldn't be forced down. There was a bed in this shelter, and me and Brian huddled into it. We lay there for hours. Brian crying into my chest, and me, sobbing into his hair._

"Man, that was boring." Josh joked as we left the cathedral. Josh and I hung out for the rest of the day, playing basketball at the court in the park. Until 3:30, when I always went to the wall for the rest of the night.

" Do you have to go, this game is just getting fun!" He pleaded.

"Sorry man, I gotta go." I told him.

He smiled. "Then I'm coming with you."

Josh never joined me on top of the wall.

When darkness fell more joined us on top of the wall, to stare out at an empty landscape.

Only the landscape wasn't empty tonight.

Hundreds of infected were standing just beyond the clearing of UV light. Screaming as loud as they could. Everybody in the colony was on top of the wall now, everybody looking to see what was going on. Many times, an infected would begin sprinting forward into the UV light until it died, trying to see if it would be able to make it to the wall. Even if it did, it wouldn't stand a chance. Snipers stood on the wall, continually killing every single one of them. By the time the sun rose, less than fifty stood there, and they all ran back. So it had finally happened, they had found us.

Tomorrow night there would be more of them. And who knew how long our defenses would hold. The final battle was beginning. A war, was starting.

The only one to have gotten any sleep all night, was Josh, who had been groaning all night long in his sleep. He awoke at around 10:15, and I was standing next to him.

"Morning." I smiled at him.

But he didn't return my smile. He frowned and stood up dizzily, closing his eyes.

" I don't feel so goo..." He vomited onto the floor, and collapsed onto me. I caught him and turned him over. Black blood was streaming from his nose and eyes. The blood of the infected last night. He opened his eyes again, they were solid black. All of a sudden I felt his muscles tighten in my arms, and I felt the same roar growing in his throat. Without thinking, I threw him from the top of the wall, and he hit the ground with a very soft thud.


	5. Going Back

Chapter 4

Going Back

Josh, or the thing that had once been Josh, lay awake on a cold stone table. Brett looked at him doubtfully, and shook his head. Josh let out his horrible roar as he tried once more to break free of his chains. The masked men returned, this time they had no needles. They surrounded Josh so that I was trapped on the outside, I felt so distant from Josh. Was he gone, the Josh I knew? He wasn't laying there on the table, that much I knew. On the table lay an infected, nothing more. What it was infected with, I had no idea, it made no difference to me, it had no soul, no pain, and no weakness. Josh was going to be tested on, and then killed like Toby had been. The masked men backed away from Josh suddenly, and when I next saw him his chains were loosened so he could sit up. I saw his eyes, they were better now, they looked like a normal person's eyes. Yet, wrong somehow. He still wasn't Josh, not to me.

"John, come here." Josh beckoned. I didn't move. I looked around at those masked around me, and at those who weren't. All of them were watching me intently, waiting for me to make my move. They all thought Josh was cured, they didn't know him like I did. I could see his upper lip trembling from excitement, he was ready for his feast, me. He watched me with those eyes, those cold, intense eyes. They weren't the eyes of Josh, I would know them anywhere. Sure they looked like them, but they were missing the kindness and compassion, yet still a ferocity that sometimes scared even me. All I could see in this creatures eyes were his hunger, and his excitement.

"You're not Josh." I said, backing away. "Lock him up, he's not back yet!" I screamed, turning to spring away from this room, back to up above, where I belonged, the wall, to watch and wait. Strong arms of the men in masks stopped me, and I was restrained. I began to scream, yelling deliriously. They brought me to the floor where a needle entered my arm, and I drifted into a troubled sleep. I felt myself drifting back, all the way back to when this had just began. It tore my heart out to go back.

_"It's okay Brian! We're going to be okay!" I tried to assure him. We had awoken from our troubled sleep. It felt all so real and clear now that the daylight had brought reality crashing down on our heads. Last night we had lost our mother to the virus, and she had tried to kill us. This storm shelter had helped us to survive the night, but now we had to go somewhere, but where?_

_"I want daddy!" He screamed. That idea clicked in my mind as soon as he said it. Dad far away, who knew how long that would take to walk? He lived there with our two other brothers, I had only seen him once since the divorce. _

_"Okay Brian, we're going to see Daddy." I told him, trying to take comfort in my own words. I just hoped we made it there before the virus did._

_We ended up walking there. We had tried three cars, but when all but one failed to open, and that one neglected to start, we'd had no choice. Walking was long and painful, we ran and jogged as much as we could, trying to make it there before sunset in any way we could. We had left early in the morning, almost too early, but we didn't arrive until late, around five in the evening, we only had about a half hour left when we arrived at Dad's house._

_Dad's front lawn was strewn with infected, some with their heads separated from their bodies and scattered halfway across the lawn. I hoped none of them were Dad, Charlie, or Tyler. I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, shielding Brian's eyes with my free hand. The door opened and we were swept up into a strong man's arms. Our father's booming laugh resonated throughout the house, you could tell how happy he was to have us home. He wasn't quite so happy when we told him about mom. We stayed in Dad's house for almost over a year, living a worried life which barely ever involved leaving home. We kept stock of food, and nights were spent in our basement, where the infected had no idea we resided. It had been seven months since I'd seen another human being outside of our family. I don't think that even the infected knew we were still alive._

_Then came that day. The day when it all changed, the day when the course of my life changed forever. For better or for worse? I still haven't decided._

_"Wake up!" Dad screamed, and my eyes were open to the smell of eggs frying. I climbed out of bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I sat down to my eggs as my brothers walked sleepily over to join me. I hungrily devoured the eggs. "Slow down." My dad laughed, "those are the last of the eggs, so enjoy 'em. It's cereal from now on." I frowned and slowed down a great deal while I was eating my eggs. Brian, Charlie, and Tyler had yet to start what was sitting on their plates, they slowly shoveled the food into their mouths. All of them except for Brian. Brian had stopped eating two days ago. "Come on Brian!" Dad tried, but Brian just stared at his plate. Brian didn't talk anymore. He had stopped long ago. This epidemic had taken it's toll on all of us, but not like it had on Brian. Brian had always loved animals, he never got along well with people though, we had never been close. _

_There was only one reason that day stood out to me in my memory, I remembered every detail, because that night was the night I tried the radio._

_I still remember the exact words of that woman on the radio. I ran downstairs screaming for my dad as soon as I heard it, we all gathered around and listened to the transmission for at least an hour, just listening to it repeat over and over again. "YOU ARE NOT ALONE. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. OTHERS HAVE SURVIVED THIS EPIDEMIC. THERE IS A SURVIVORS COLONY. PLEASE, YOU ARE NOT ALONE." That was all the message said, void of details or an address or location. But that transmission was enough to give us hope. _

_Then Dad did something I never would have expected. He threw the radio on the floor, and smashed it under his foot. I screamed._

_Dad's eyes were full of anger and defeat, the eyes of a man who had lost hope. "Father!" I screamed. "Why?"_

_"There is no colony." He said quietly, shaking his head. "There are no survivors, we are the only one's left."_

_"But father, the transmission!" I yelled, tears beginning to stream down my face._

_"The transmission is from before the infected took over, there is no colony, nothing happened the way it should have, nothing went according to plan. We are the only one's alive, no one is going anywhere." He said, like that was the end of it, but it wasn't, not to me._

_"I'm going, Father. You know where it is and you'll tell me, I can't stay here, Father, I can't."_

_"You're not going anywhere!" He screamed._

_"You can't protect us anymore Father!" I yelled, feeling my voice crack as my throat stung. "This is no way to live, we can't stay here, look at Brian! He's dying, Dad, that's going to happen to all of us if you don't do somethi..."_

_He hit me. Punched me in the face, and I fell over on the floor. I tasted blood in my mouth, but I wasn't done. Now Charlie and Tyler were at my side, pulling me up._

_"Dad, I'm going to." Tyler said._

_"As am I." Charlie whispered, both their faces covered with tears, Dad's face drenched with sweat._

_And then we heard the first scream._

_Here we were, screaming at each other in the middle of the night in our kitchen! They had heard, there was no doubt about that. Dad sprinted to the window and peeked out to see hundreds of infected sprinting towards the house._

_"GET IN THE BASEMENT NOW!" He screamed, and the three of us sprinted down to the basement, where Brian lay asleep. Dad followed behind us and closed the steel basement door, and reinforced it with every lock we had installed. It wouldn't hold, we knew that. I tried waking Brian, but he wouldn't wake up. Dad frantically opened all our cellar doors and handed each of us a pistol and a shotgun. I began shaking Brian, but he refused to wake up. _

_"Dad!" I choked._

_"Leave him!" Dad yelled, tears now bursting out of both our eyes. "He's not going to make it."_

_"He's still alive!" I screamed!_

_"He'll slow them down!" He said. "They'll stop to eat him, leave us some time." From that moment on, I had hated my father. Then the screams grew louder and I knew they were in the house. Brian still lay there asleep, Dad threw back the steel grate in the basement that led through our secret escape. I heard the Basement door fly off it's hinges and saw it slam down the stairwell. I climbed into the tunnel after my brothers and pulled back the grate. I saw the basement fill up with infected, as they swarmed onto Brian, taking ferocious bites of him. I screamed, but Charlie put a hand over my mouth. Tears mixed with sweat, dripped from all of our bodies as we climbed ferociously through the tunnel, and outside. We sprinted to our car, and locked the door. A pack of infected began chasing us, I supposed they were the one's who couldn't get into the house. We drove faster than they could run, and we drove all through the night. _

_I didn't see the bite marks on Charlies shoulder until morning._

_Charlie had killed Tyler in his sleep, and me and Dad had strapped Charlie down, and thrown him out in the sun, and left him for dead. What choice did we have?_

_Father and I arrived at the colony, and I had taken on my post at the wall, that I still fulfill today._

_He had joined the military for the colony, and been lost three days before I turned fifteen, on an expedition through the city furthest away, they had cleaned it of infected, but Father hadn't escaped without a bite._

_My heart broke at the thoughts of those whom I had lost. Those whose lives I'd had to take. My heart broke for all those who had been lost to the infection._

_And my anger tore my heart out, at whoever the hell had created this virus._


	6. The Beginning

Chapter 5

The Beginning

I awoke on a cold stone table. The sound of a keyboard clacking pounded within my head making my headache all the worse. I wiped the sleep from my eyes, and enjoyed the split seconds I had of ignorance. Sweet, sweet ignorance. For a moment, I was back in my bedroom in my mom's house, Brian in the bed next to me, sleeping in because it was one of the first days of summer. I couldn't wait for the day to begin. Then my eyes opened to the pale wood on the ceiling, and I rolled over and vomited. All my senses were going crazy. I couldn't make out the sounds from the smells, and the smells from the feelings. It took me a few minutes for me to register the sickly taste of last nights food in my mouth. Then it all came rushing back to me, like a train slamming me in the face. I began to choke back tears, and managed to gurgle the word. "Josh?" The sound of the keyboard stopped for a moment. I heard a click, and then a man say.

"He's awake." And the keyboard resumed. Footsteps approached coming down a flight of stairs. Then my eyelids were pulled open and a bright light was shone, obstructing my view of the ceiling.

"Pupils appear normal, he seems stable." Then he cut the bonds on my hands which I just remembered were still attached to my body. I lifted my hand in front of my face, and frowned. "Your friend is alive, he's in intensive care. His condition is unstable, no one is allowed in to see him right now except those working on him. He's infected, but... not with KV." He said, shaking his head.

"Then what is it?" I asked angrily.

"We don't know for sure. We think it's involved with the miracle cure, some sort of side effect. We don't know much, but we know that he doesn't sleep, and sunlight has no effect on his skin."

"Are there others like him?" I asked, feeling another wave of nauseousness passing over me.

"He's the second we've found so far, and no one's got the cure but him. We must hope that's what's causing it. If this virus spread, we would have chaos." He shook his head and looked away. "You are free to go." He motioned to the door. I walked out quickly, not glancing back. I raced up the stairs, and then across town, back to my post on the wall. The sun was just beginning to peak in the sky. I felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over me, and wondered how long I'd been knocked out for. My muscles began to ache with fatigue that I hadn't noticed until now. I sighed and stared out across the beautiful landscape, lit by the golden sun in the sky. Finally, I was alone with my thoughts, things were finally slowing down, after the past few days I felt like I deserved a break. As I sat there, I thought about Josh, all the times we'd had, and what he meant to me. I thought about what would happen if he was taken from me, and shivered at the thought. I closed my eyes, and let myself drift away into sleep. My dreams were troubled ones which involved Josh and my brothers swimming in a lake. Inside the lake there was a monster, but they couldn't see it. I was standing outside of the lake, and only I could see the monster. They were begging me to join them. And tears were streaming down my face as I begged them to come out. Then the monster came to the surface and the looks of terror on their faces made me cry. The monster devoured them, and I ran away. It began chasing me, and I kept running.

I was woken by the scream.

Not an infected.

A woman.

My eyes opened to bright UV lights shining out across the field. A woman was lying there, blood gushing from her stomach, her screams so loud and horrible. A line of infected stood on the outer edge of the light, where they were just safe from the light. Then I saw the gate open, and five men run out to grab her. But by the time they reached her she was already dead. The infected stared at the men, hungrily drooling. I stood there, on the wall, watching, waiting. Then I saw what was going on. "GET BACK!" I screamed, but my screams were in vain, nine or ten infected had lifted a boulder and hurled it at the wall, slamming into one of the UV lights, and forcing it to shut off. A line of light was eliminated, and the men were inside that line. They began sprinting sideways, but it was too far, soon the infected were upon them, devouring their feast as snipers fired over and over again from the wall. The infected fell back, and then I saw him. One man had made it into the UV light, bite marks everywhere, blood pouring out of him but he was alive. The other four might as well have not existed for all that was left of them. Maybe a few bones scattered around, but those infected had been hungry. The man in the light walked back to the gate, his body drenched in sweat, blood, and tears. He reached the gate and began pounding on it. The gate scanned his eyes. "Access denied." I heard the electronic voice say. He stood there, screaming, slamming on the door.

"LET ME IN! LET ME IN!" He screamed again and again. All night long. The light that the infected had destroyed had been quickly replaced. By morning, the man was dead. The smell of burnt skin haunted the colony for days afterwards. Everyone in the colony had the same thing on their mind, but none dared speak it. They had found us, there was no doubt about it now. Tonight there would be more of them, and the next night more. We all knew it, but none of us dared speak it. This was the beginning of the end for us, we all knew it. If we didn't find a cure within a matter of days, there was no hope. I gave us maybe four to five days, at most. And that was before I knew about the other virus, and how much of a difference that would make. Only one thing was certain.

It was time to fight back.


	7. Discovery

Chapter 6

Discovery

And like that, it had all begun. The lights were being built, as many giant UV lights as could fit up on the wall, we were creating. Doing everything we could to stay alive just one more day. Arming every man, woman, and child with two pistols. Arming some, like me, with a shotgun as well. The infected were unforgiving, and relentless, they would destroy us if we gave them the chance. They would give us no mercy, they would clean out the colony of all life in less than ten minutes if we let them within 30 feet of the wall. And the next morning, the colony would smell of death. Everyone in the colony looked terrified, and those who weren't scared, they looked defeated. Everyone stood there, without hope, without life. A grave look was on every face in the colony. There had been thirteen turret guns added to the wall. Running in a circle around it, spaced evenly apart, but we all knew the power of the infected. They wouldn't give up without a fight. I needed someone to talk to, someone to give me hope. I had nobody. My only friend in the colony was down in the basement, probably in a coma. I thought about going to visit him, about talking to him, venting out all my feelings to someone who couldn't hear me. It just didn't seem very appealing. In my head, I made a list of people I could talk to. But in half an hour, the list consisted of myself, and Josh. I missed my brother Brian horribly. My mind wandered to that day when I had lost him. When Dad had made me leave him. I had hated Dad for that, but in my heart I had always known it was not his fault. Brian had fallen into a coma from not eating, one he probably never would have awoken from anyways. At least he wasn't alive when the infected took him, I thought, at least he didn't have to feel the pain. My mind began to spin, to take me places where I didn't want to go. I decided to go to see Josh in the basement. My head was still spinning, my thoughts confusing themselves with reality. I walked shakily down the steps to the basement. A guard stopped me, and I told him I just wanted to see Josh. He let me pass, and then I was in a square room with Josh, and another infected who it looked like they were testing on. But something about the infected looked so, familiar. I walked over to it, and a smell reached my nose that I had smelled before. It smelled of the damp basement back at my dad's house. I had smelled this same smell that night when I had left Brian to die. This infected looked so much like Brian, more than the others. I knew it was impossible, knew that the infected had swallowed him whole, and not left any part of him behind, but still, I couldn't escape the feeling.

"John." Brian said softly. I whirled around and saw him standing there. He wasn't there, he couldn't be. Then we weren't in the basement, we were back at Dad's house, in our old bedroom we had shared. A part of me wanted to believe that I was really here, but the rest of me knew I was still in the basement. But Brian remained, and I remained in our room. He looked older now, and my chest hurt as my heart broke at the sight of him. Even in my mind, even in my imagination, the infection had still taken it's toll on Brian. And I choked back tears at the thought that every memory of Brian I had was of him this way, his eyes dark and hopeless, his face hardened, not soft like that of a boy of his age. "It's okay." Brian said, sensing my pain. At least he could speak in my imagination. "I want you to know that it wasn't your fault."

"Brian!" I sputtered, "I'm so sorry! I didn't want to leave you!"

"It's okay John, there was no hope for me, it's what you had to do. I would have brought your death." He said.

"Why are you here!" I screamed, wishing he would leave me be, leave me in my pain.

"I want you to forgive yourself for leaving me John. And for leaving our brothers. None of this stuff was your fault, it was all the infected." He said lovingly, and then he smiled at me.

"Why do I need to forgive myself? What does it matter to you!" I screamed, growing impatient with him.

"Hope." He said simply. I opened my mouth to ask what that had to do with anything, but he kept speaking, as if he sensed my question. "Without forgiveness, all you have for yourself is blame. With the crushing guilt of that blame, you will lose your will to live, you may have already. You're a hero John, you may not believe it, but you are a bigger hero than anyone in this colony could ever hope to be. When the infected attack, you must not let yourself go. You have to fight back!" He said, almost angrily.

"I'm no hero. I'm just a boy who sits on a wall." I said, looking away, and for a moment I was almost back in the damp basement again. But I still heard Brian's last words.

"You saved me from the infected, it's time to save everyone else." I wanted to turn back and ask him how. But when I looked back I was still in the basement, and Josh still lay there, in his coma induced by the shots they had given him. I walked uneasily over to him, and lay a hand on his abnormally pale skin. He shivered at my touch, and his nostrils flared, and for a moment fear took over me. I looked at his black nails, almost like a vampire. I looked back at the other infected, and compared them. They looked similar, yet completely different at the same time. Josh still had many human aspects about himself, while the infected barely resembled a human being anymore. Josh still had his hair, and his facial complexion had barely changed. The infected looked ugly and evil. I looked back at Josh and stifled a scream.

His eyes were open.

But not his eyes, not human eyes, his evil eyes, solid black. He opened his mouth and let out a scream, then began fighting against his bonds. His struggle was in vain, I knew, but I still took a few steps back, debating whether to make a run for it, or stay and see what was going to happen. Then something amazing happened, he spoke. "John!" He said, it wasn't his voice, it was a high pitched voice that cracked when he spoke, and he showed his teeth at me, which now resembled fangs.

"What are you!" I asked, taking another step back.

"I'm on your side John. I want those things dead," He gestured at the infected, "Just as much as you do." He smiled his sharp teeth at me. I uneasily took a step forward. "Save me John, save all of us!" He screamed.

"Are there others like you?" I asked him nervously.

"Hundreds! When they dispersed that cure into the air they created us. We are all connected by this virus, it lives in all of us! And it will kill us." He said, his breathing picking up speed.

"Kill you?" I asked, surprised, "How?"

"It's a disease! It hurts me! Even now I can feel it taking control."

"Why haven't you attacked our colony yet?"

"I told you! We're on your side! Release me, and I will gather my brothers, and we will fight the infected with you, we are so hungry!"

"What's to stop you from eating me?"

"Human's taste disgusting! We will fight them out there, while you are safe here, but they do not know! You must let me go!" I shivered wit this decision. I didn't know what to do. He could have been lying, he could have wanted to kill me. So I went upstairs and I got the guards, and they put him to sleep. Then they tossed him outside and shut the gates. He was gone in an hour.

Twenty minutes before sunset, I sat on the wall and watched and waited. Shotgun in hand, pistols at my waist, I was standing next to a turret which was operated by Kevin, one of the strongest men in the colony. Soon the lights were on, and the infected stood on the outskirts of the light. No creatures like Josh were to be seen. Maybe he really did just want to be free, he had no interest in helping us. Thirty minutes passed and nothing happened. The number of infected had definitely grown since last I had seen them. But I was uneasy, something didn't seem right. Then it happened, all so quickly. The lights above me flickered, then died.

And in the darkness, the infected charged.


	8. Infected

Chapter 7

Infected

I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for the impending doom. I heard the roar of the infected grow quieter, but not in volume. I knew that in reality, it was getting louder and louder, but somehow, in my head, I felt separate from it, like I was somewhere else. I had pushed the screams to the back of my head, the gunfire and the pain. The cries of fear emitting from the colony. But the expression on my face remained the same. And it was not one of fear, or one of pain, but one of utter serenity. Looking back on everything that had happened, I realized, that I finally had nothing left to lose, and I was ready to go. I was willing to face whatever fate might be left for me. So, keeping my eyes shut, I cocked my pistol, turned, and fired. I opened my eyes expecting an onslaught of infected, but I set eyes on nothing but a vast empty field. Then everything I had pushed to the back of my head slammed into me like a train, and I stumbled and nearly fell off of the wall in my agony. I felt as if I had just smashed my head into a wall of bricks and then poured acid on my injuries. My vision became blurry and all my senses fogged up, and all I could understand was this horrible, agonizing pain, which left me writhing on the ground. Then something was inside of me, something was trying to break free, I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see. My eyes felt strange, like they were swelling up. Like they were trying to escape from their sockets. I pulled my hands up to my face, but they flopped at my side uselessly as I realized I no longer had control of my muscles. My eyes were pulled open by a mysterious powerful force which I was powerless against. My vision was blurred, but I could see the brick floor of the wall in front of my eyes, and I could see a few feet in front of me vomit which I had probably released in my pain. And I let go of my senses and let my body take me. I stopped struggling and allowed my body to twist and turn. And I wished for death, because nothing had ever been this bad, nothing I had ever felt before. Then I was in control again, and I shut my eyes and vomited again, and then I was still, huddled in a ball, left spitting and groaning, tears and sweat drenched my face and shirt. I was hot, very hot, and I wished for nothing but for it all to be over. Then my ears seemed to open up and I could hear everything suddenly.

"--get him out of here, get him downstairs to the hospital, chain him down." A man was saying. And I opened my eyes and I was moving, and three men were carrying me, but their hands on my skin burned like acid. So I began twisting and turning, trying to escape, but their grips were strong and the more I twisted the more I hurt. So I tried to speak. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out but spit and blood.

"Jesus, what's happening to him?"

"I don't know, but he's gotta get better, we need this guy." Then it was dark and we were going down, and when we got down there there were more people talking, and conversations mixed with each other because I couldn't hear correctly.

"--Infected we were keeping in the basement...cut the power...running on backup...won't last long."

"--They're gonna get in...how much time do we have...evacuate?"

"God, another one!" I heard, and then I was lifted onto a table and chained down, the chains were cold and felt incredible on my burning hot skin. I was panting, and hearing things, I had no idea what was going on. Then I felt a needle enter my arm, and heard the same man say, "Sleep for now, you'll feel better when you wake." Then there was nothing but black, and relief swept over me, and then I was gone.

I awoke to a cold, dark room. My head felt like it had been split open, but the rest of my body seemed okay. I was in a room much like the one I had been in before, yet totally different at the same time. Around me, there were four other beds, all were filled with others like me. I tried to move my arms, but I still had no control. My legs were non-responsive as well, and I began screaming but my mouth wouldn't open. It was as if I was watching TV through my own eyes, I could control nothing, but someone, or something else, was doing it all for me. I saw myself struggle against my chains, and where it dug into my arm I felt the cut. So I could still feel all my pain. Then a man came down, and stood in front of me, and began speaking to me despite my struggles to break free. I was at a total loss of control, if it were up to me I would've been lying there, listening to whatever this man had to say, desperate to know what was going on. Then he said something that surprised me.

"I'm not talking to you!" He shouted, and I stopped struggling, and all of a sudden I could lift my arms, and close my eyes, and I could speak to. So I asked him.

"What's going on, what's wrong with me?" And I lay back, letting my eyes close and wanting rest.

"There's something inside of you. We are unsure of what it is, but you're not the only case. We're classifying you guys as light seekers, so as not to get confused. We think it's a new virus, caused by the old cure. Unlike the KV, it causes split personalities for a long time, until either your body kills the virus, or the virus takes control of the host." He said, almost casually.

"Josh..." I croaked.

"He had it to. You shouldn't have let him go, what the hell were you thinking?" He shouted, then he calmed down. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"He said, he would help..." My throat began to ache.

"He spread this virus around, he created many more of you, he's dispersed it into the air!" He shouted.

"The...infected...colony..." I tried to get my words straight.

"The infected's attack on our colony is still at large, we're doing our best to hold them back, but our generator is busted. We're running on backup power which only has about an hour left. We've started evacuating the colony."

"...what...happens...me?" I croaked.

"We'll unchain you, and leave you here, I'm sorry, we have no choice. We can't get this virus out of you." He said.

I let my head rest back, and accepted what was coming, if there was no saving me, there was no saving me. So I let myself fall asleep.

That was when I first heard the high pitched frequency.

The one that would save, or kill, us all.


	9. Retaliation

Chapter 8

Cure?

"You have to believe me!" I screamed, feeling my throat becoming hoarse from the nonstop screaming of the past twenty minutes. "There's something going on that can save us al!" I let my eyes open again and felt a flow of tears stream down my face. "That noise! The sound! The screech!" I screamed hopelessly, knowing how absolutely delirious I sounded. I felt my heart sinking as I realized the hopelessness of my situation once again. The promise of a cure, that feeling I had gotten, I had let my spirits rise and hopes soar once again. I should've known this was how it was going to happen. Disappointments so disappointing. Then the noise stopped, the high pitched noise, and the monster inside me regained it's strength and took control again, and I was lost once again to the blackness of my thoughts.

It had started with the button. The black button after the code of numbers on the keypad over by the bed where an infected had once lay. When I had first awoken from my sleep and really had control over the monster for the first time, the sound was screeching in the back of my head. There had been a man standing by the button, and whatever he had done had started this frequency. Then with each minute I had felt myself growing stronger and stronger, until I felt the monster was barely inside of me at all anymore. Then the man walked back over to the button, entered his numbers, and before I saw him press the button again I was lost. He was running tests, that much I had figured out, but I didn't know what this machine was that was making the sound. I needed to convince him, but I couldn't get him to listen to me. I lay there in the void, waiting. Then consciousness came rushing back to me as the frequency greeted my ears. The man was walking away, he had a gun on his back and on his waist, and he looked like he was about to leave me forever. There were no chains on my arms. I sat up and screamed at him. "Wait!"

"You're crazy, you're just an infected." He said, and turned and walked away.

"My name is John Gray and I am fifteen years old. My father came here with me before he was lost in an expedition. Please you have to listen to me! I can save us, I can save you!"

The man paused at the top of the stairs and looked back down at me, an intense gaze in his eyes. I knew I had him then, I had gotten his attention. "That machine over there, that button, what does it do?" I asked frantically.

"It's a radio." He replied coldly, "Trying to reach the inhabitants of the colony who have left."

"The frequency it emits, is there anything unique about it?"

"It's reversed, low power, very low. It can't be picked up by any radio without the code." He gestured towards the keyboard.

"That frequency is the key. It weakens the infection's hold over me, I can speak, I can see, I can understand, I become stronger as it becomes weaker. As soon as you turn it off I'm lost."

"You're sure of this?"

"Positive."

"What good is it on the first infection, the KV virus?"

"No idea, why you have an idea?"

"We can disperse the cure into the air. It will give them the virus you have, then the radio tower. If we climbed it, we could plug in the frequency and everyone would be cured. The world might just be saved." He said, hope gleaming in his eyes. It was a far shot, a very far shot. The slightest miscalculation would ruin the whole plan.

"How long?"

"Till what?"

"How long 'till you can have the cure dispersed into the air, how long 'till they get here, how long 'till it takes effect, how long 'till I'm cured."

The man was down on the ground with me now. He opened a nearby valve and I saw water rushing through it. The colony's water supply. He took a jar labeled "Cure?" and unscrewed the top. He poured it into the water and said.

"It's in the water supply now, but they won't drink it. We need to vaporize the water supply so they will inhale the cure." He then went over to the black button and hit a switch and a chip with a bunch of electronic codes slid out. "7-9-3-25-4-11" "Memorize those numbers, you'll need them." As I said the numbers in my head over and over again he continued pacing around. Speaking quietly to himself; "..vaporize the water supply...horrible for the environment...be dead anyway.. Save or kill us all." I slid the chip into my pocket and said.

"Ready."

"Good, you need to do something for me. Something very dangerous." 

"Anything." I said, voice quavering, hearing the sea of infected burst through the gate.

"You need to go out there, and climb to the top of the radio tower."


	10. Sacrifice

Chapter 9

Sacrifice

As the night drew to an end, the few blades of grass that remained perked up their faces towards where they knew the sun would soon be appearing. Where they knew they could get their feast of light, and if they were lucky, a downpour to quench their dying thirst burning deep within them. The moon was no longer visible in the sky, and neither was the sun.

The Colony hung in that moment between Dusk and Morning time, when nothing was visible outside but the gray skylight. The ugly silence that followed when no birds were quite ready to chirp yet. The one time of the day when no humans were awake. The ugly time of day when neither the sun or the moon were anywhere to be seen. Those waking up had nothing to compensate for the fact they had just entered into another day in this god-forsaken world. No beautiful sunlight, no soft, calming moonlight. At least it wasn't raining.

But there was a certain beauty about that moment that signaled the coming sunlight, the oncoming day. The day when the future of the earth was on the line, the day when all lives were risked, were made or broken. That was the day when a fifteen year old boy would discover exactly what it was that made that moment so beautiful. The time before the humans were awake, that forced those who roam the night to finally sleep.

The screams of the infected buried the sound of the night outside as I poked my head out of the manhole. It was the dead of night, no help anywhere, there I stood, looking on an empty street, not seeing them anywhere, but hearing them everywhere. Numbers in my head, chip in my pocket, gun at my waist, I waited silently. I dropped down beneath the manhole, covering the hole perfectly with the top to once again conceal my presence. I was completely immersed in darkness as I waited for the sound I knew was coming.

I waited there for what seemed like an hour until finally I heard a very large "POP!" that overcame the infected's scream. Then there was a very large hissing sound and I could feel a current rushing up past me and popped off the top of the manhole. That was my queue. I climbed out and sprinted towards the tower. I heard the infected screaming, but not at me. Their screams were those of agony, and not of anger and hunger. The sight of three infected lying on the ground, writhing in pain flashed past my eyes as I sprinted towards the water tower. My foot hit a rock and I tripped over and fell to the ground. I felt my elbow scrape against the concrete, and only then did my vision catch up with my thoughts.

I quickly got up to begin my sprint again, but there was a hand on my ankle. I looked down to see an infected clinging to me from the ground, where it was sprawled across, looking hopeless. It was an infected, but not like before. It wasn't angry, not hungry, not..evil. It's strength had left it's body, and now all that remained was the person that had once been. Then the infected was a person again, just a man, a sad, hungry man.

"H-h-hhh-eellp mee." He groaned, staring up at me with begging, desperate eyes. I lingered for a moment, debating whether to help him. Until I finally decided he needed me. But when I bent down I saw his nails had become black again, and his eyes were solid black. He had what I had now, and if it weren't for the frequency playing in my ears from the headphones I had been given, I would be just like him.

Then something bad happened, something that made me seriously doubt how effective this plan would be. I saw his eyes flicker, then become white again, his skin became pale, and I could see the KV virus struggling with this new virus. Which one was more powerful? Would the frequency still save those with KV? I didn't have time to find out. The time was now. It was do or die.

I Took off towards the radio tower, a sea of those with a dominant KV virus trailing dangerously closely behind me, and gaining. I flung myself at the latter up to the top of the tower, and frantically turned around as I began climbing it backwards with one hand. My other hand reached into my pocket and grabbed a helmet. I flipped the switch and UV light shone from the top of the helmet and I put it on my head. The infected fell back as I shone it at them, but only for a moment. That moment gave me the head start I needed. I was at the top of the tower before the infected had recovered from their shock. I slid the chip out of my pocket and into the indicated slot on the radio tower. I entered the numbers on the keypad frantically as the infected climbed to the top of the tower. The radio needed ten minutes to work, but I had roughly ten seconds before the infected devoured me whole.

I sank to the ground and buried my head in my hands, as I prepared myself for the doom I had been waiting for years to come. Unlike the last times I thought the end was near, this time I felt sadness. I finally had let myself get caught in the moment, in the hope we might actually survive. Now it was all going to end. I opened my eyes and stood up. The infected leapt at me with a deadly look in their eyes. I raised my fist and let it go, feeling it make contact with an infected's head. Another one landed on my back, sinking it's teeth into my shoulder and bringing me to the ground. I reached and grabbed my pistol and began shooting off in directions. As I felt teeth sink into me in many places, I let myself give up. Shielding my face, I freed my legs and kicked some in the face. If I was going down, I was going down with a fight. Then a thought occurred to me. What if they destroyed the tower, what if it had no effect.

I summoned all of my remaining strength, and rolled myself off the edge of the tower. I began tumbling down, infected all around as we made the forty foot drop to the ground. I opened my eyes and tried to land on my feet. I felt my legs snap as pain flooded my body. Then there was nothing attacking my body, and I was left with my pain for a few moments before I managed to sit up and open my eyes. The KV virus was fighting those with the other virus, those that had managed to become...almost...human. There were more of the day creatures then there were KV, but the KV was stronger, and we were losing the battle. The creatures of the day were pinned on the ground now, as the KV began their feast. I screamed and looked up to the sky, blood filling my mouth. My vision was blurred for a moment, then, my eyes feasted on the beautiful gray of the gray sky between night-time and morning.

_After_

_John passed out from a blood loss, but was quickly revived in a nearby hospital. The frequency being broadcast rescued the infected from their virus, and left the world in a state of shock. Towns all around the world are being rebuilt, however some forms of the KV virus had become so developed that the frequency has not cured them. Now humans and infected live at constant war, both trying to establish their own community in their own world. But how it will end, no one knows._

_The End_


End file.
